Information recording medium, recording/reproducing method, and recording/reproducing apparatus

ABSTRACT

An information recording medium, a method of recording and/or reproducing data to/from the medium, and a recording/reproducing apparatus using the medium, the medium having a data area including a user data area to record user data, and a spare area to record replacement blocks that replace defect blocks occurring in the user data area, wherein defect list entries include status information of the defect blocks and the replacement blocks, and the status information of the defect blocks in the user data area is changed, and the status information of the replacement blocks in the spare area is changed, in response to the spare area being newly allocated to re-initialize the medium.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/074,933, filed on Mar. 9, 2005, now pending, which claims the benefitof Korean Patent Application No. 2004-37535, filed on May 25, 2004, inthe Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a disc, and, more particularly, to aninformation recording medium, a recording/reproducing method, and arecording/reproducing apparatus for re-initializing the medium.

2. Description of the Related Art

The number of defects in a re-writable information storage mediumincreases due to scratches, fingerprints, or dust existing on the mediumduring use of the medium. Defect blocks occurring while using the mediumare managed by being registered as defect information, and a host or adrive system tries not to allocate data to the defect blocks, but torecord data in non-defect blocks. As such, when the medium iscontinuously used, the number of such defect blocks will increase.Accordingly, a user will desire to re-initialize the medium.

In this case, the defect blocks registered in the defect informationafter the user has removed the fingerprints or dust from the surface ofthe medium can be determined to be satisfactory non-defect blocks bydisc verification after recording data. As such, when re-initializationof the re-writable information storage medium is required, the drivesystem determines defect possibilities of blocks in recordable areas ofthe entire medium, or defect blocks registered in the defectinformation, through verification after recording.

The recording of the defect blocks that are registered in the defectinformation or in the entire medium, and then determining whether theblocks are defective through disc verification when re-initializing there-writable information storage medium, can be inconvenient for usersbecause it takes too much time to re-initialize the medium.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an information recording medium, arecording/reproducing method, and a recording/reproducing apparatus toquickly re-initialize the medium.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forthin part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obviousfrom the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided aninformation recording medium including a data area, wherein the dataarea comprises a user data area to record user data, and a spare area torecord replacement blocks that replace defect blocks occurring in theuser data area; defect list entries include status information of thedefect blocks and the replacement blocks; and the status information ofdefect blocks which remain in the user data area after newly allocatingthe spare area during re-initialization is changed to indicate thedefect blocks remaining in the user data area have been re-initializedand have a possible defect.

The defect blocks occurring in the user data area before newlyallocating the spare area may include at least one of a defect blockwith a replacement block, a defect block without a replacement block, apossible defective block, or a combination thereof.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedan information recording medium including a data area, wherein the dataarea comprises a user data area to record user data, and a spare area torecord replacement blocks that replace defect blocks occurring in theuser data area; defect list entries include status information of thedefect blocks and the replacement blocks; and the status information ofdefect blocks which are located in a newly allocated spare area afterallocating the newly allocated spare area during re-initialization ischanged to indicate the defect blocks located in the newly allocatedspare area have been re-initialized and are unusable as the replacementblocks.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedan information recording medium including a data area, wherein the dataarea comprises a user data area to record user data, and a spare area torecord replacement blocks that replace defect blocks occurring in theuser data area; defect list entries include status information of thedefect blocks and the replacement blocks; and the status information ofreplacement blocks that are unusable to replace the defect blocks ischanged to indicate defect blocks that have been re-initialized and havea possible defect in response to the unusable replacement blocks, whichare located in the spare area before newly allocating the spare area,being located in the user data area after re-initialization of themedium.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedan information recording medium including a data area, wherein the dataarea comprises a user data area to record user data, and a spare area torecord replacement blocks that replace defect blocks occurring in theuser data area; defect list entries include status information of thedefect blocks and the replacement blocks; and the status information ofthe defect blocks in the user data area is changed, and the statusinformation of the replacement blocks in the spare area is changed, inresponse to the spare area being newly allocated to re-initialize theinformation recording medium.

The defect list entries may include physical address information of thedefect blocks or the replacement blocks, first status informationindicating whether the replacement blocks are usable or unusable or adefect status of the defect blocks, and second status informationindicating whether the information recording medium has beenre-initialized.

The defect list entries regarding defect blocks which remain in the userdata area after the spare area is newly allocated duringre-initialization may be changed to include first status informationindicating the defect blocks remaining in the user data area have apossible defect, and second status information indicating the defectblocks remaining in the user data area have been re-initialized.

The defect list entries regarding defect blocks which are located in anewly allocated spare area after allocating the newly allocated sparearea during re-initialization may be changed to include first statusinformation indicating the defect blocks located in the newly allocatedspare area are unusable as the replacement blocks, and second statusinformation indicating the defect blocks located in the newly allocatedspare area have been re-initialized.

The defect list entries of replacement blocks that are unusable toreplace the defect blocks may be changed to include first statusinformation indicating defect blocks that have a possible defect, andsecond status information indicating the defect blocks having a possibledefect have been re-initialized, in response to the replacement blocksthat are unusable to replace the defect blocks, which are located in thespare area before newly allocating the spare area, being located in theuser data area after re-initialization.

Verification of sequential blocks may be performed in response to asequential defect list entry existing regarding the sequential blockswhich comprise at least two possible defective blocks continuouslydisposed, and a length of the sequential blocks not being known, beforeallocating a new spare area; the sequential defect list entry may beregistered to include first status information indicating a verificationresult, and second status information indicating re-initialization, inresponse to the sequential blocks remaining in the user data area afterre-initialization; and the sequential defect list entry may beregistered to include first status information indicating the sequentialblocks are usable or unusable to replace the defect blocks, and secondstatus information indicating re-initialization, in response to thesequential blocks being located in the newly allocated spare area afterthe re-initialization.

A sequential defect list entry may be maintained in response to thesequential defect list entry existing regarding sequential blockscomprising at least two possible defective blocks continuously disposed,and a length of the sequential blocks not being known, before allocatinga new spare area, and a first block included in the sequential blocks,which was included in the sequential blocks before newly allocating thespare area, being located in the user data area after re-initialization;and the sequential defect list entry may be registered to include firststatus information indicating the sequential blocks are usable orunusable to replace the defect blocks according to verification of thesequential blocks, and second status information indicatingre-initialization, in response to the sequential blocks being located inthe newly allocated spare area after the re-initialization.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda recording/reproducing method comprising newly allocating a spare areawhile re-initializing an information recording medium in which a userdata area to record user data, and the spare area to record replacementblocks to replace defect blocks occurring in the user data area, arearranged, wherein defect list entries include status informationregarding the defect blocks and replacement blocks; and changing statusinformation of defect blocks which remain in the user data area afternewly allocating the spare area to indicate the defect blocks remainingin the user data area have been re-initialized and have a possibledefect.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda recording/reproducing method comprising newly allocating a spare areawhile re-initializing an information recording medium in which a userdata area to record user data, and the spare area to record replacementblocks to replace defect blocks occurring in the user data area, arearranged, wherein defect list entries include status informationregarding the defect blocks and replacement blocks; and changing statusinformation of defect blocks which are located in the newly allocatedspare area after allocating the newly allocated spare area to indicatethe defect blocks located in the newly allocated spare area have beenre-initialized and are unusable as the replacement blocks.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda recording/reproducing method comprising newly allocating a spare areawhile re-initializing an information recording medium in which a userdata area to record user data, and a spare area to record replacementblocks to replace defect blocks occurring in the user data area, arearranged wherein defect list entries include status informationregarding the defect blocks and replacement blocks; and changing statusinformation of replacement blocks that are unusable to replace thedefect blocks to indicate defect blocks that have been re-initializedand have a possible defect in response to the unusable replacementblocks, which are located in the spare area before newly allocating thespare area, being included in the user data area afterre-initialization.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda recording/reproducing method comprising newly allocating a spare areawhile re-initializing an information recording medium in which a userdata area to record user data, and a spare area to record replacementblocks to replace defect blocks occurring in the user data area, arearranged, wherein defect list entries include status informationregarding the defect blocks and replacement blocks; and changing statusinformation of the defect blocks in the user data area, and statusinformation of the replacement blocks in the spare area.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda recording/reproducing apparatus comprising a reading/writing unit toread data from and/or write data on an information recording mediumhaving a user data area to record user data, a spare area to recordreplacement blocks that replace defect blocks occurring in the user dataarea, and defect list entries including status information of the defectblocks and the replacement blocks; and a controlling unit to control thereading/writing unit to newly allocate the spare area to re-initializethe information recording medium, and change status information ofdefect blocks which remain in the user data area after re-initializationto indicate the defect blocks remaining in the user data area have beenre-initialized and have a possible defect.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda recording/reproducing apparatus comprising a reading/writing unit toread data from and/or write data on an information recording mediumhaving a user data area to record user data, a spare area to recordreplacement blocks that replace defect blocks occurring in the user dataarea, and defect list entries including status information of the defectblocks and the replacement blocks; and a controlling unit to control thereading/writing unit to newly allocate the spare area to re-initializethe information recording medium, and change status information ofdefect blocks which are located in the newly allocated spare area afterre-initialization to indicate the defect blocks located in the newlyallocated spare area have been re-initialized and are unusable as thereplacement blocks.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda recording/reproducing apparatus comprising a reading/writing unit toread data from and/or write data on an information recording mediumhaving a user data area to record user data, a spare area to recordreplacement blocks that replace defect blocks occurring in the user dataarea, and defect list entries including status information of the defectblocks and the replacement blocks; and a controlling unit to control thereading/writing unit to newly allocate the spare area to re-initializethe information recording medium, and change status information ofreplacement blocks that are unusable to replace the defect blocks toindicate defect blocks that have been re-initialized and have a possibledefect in response to the unusable replacement blocks, which are locatedin the spare area before re-initialization, being located in the userdata area after re-initialization.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda recording/reproducing apparatus comprising a reading/writing unit toread data from and/or write data on an information recording mediumhaving a user data area to record user data, a spare area to recordreplacement blocks that replace defect blocks occurring in the user dataarea, and defect list entries including status information of the defectblocks and the replacement blocks; and a controlling unit to control thereading/writing unit to newly allocate the spare area to re-initializethe information recording medium, change status information of thedefect blocks and the replacement blocks, and then record the statusinformation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent and more readily appreciated from the following description ofthe embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording/reproducing apparatus accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of a single recording layer discaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of a double recording layer discaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of data of a defect list (DFL) accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of data of a DFL entry such asillustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 illustrates status information of the DFL entry illustrated inFIG. 5;

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate a method of processing a DFL entry of blockswithin a spare area that is newly allocated in a disc afterre-initializing the disc according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8A illustrates status information of the DFL entry beforeallocating the new spare area to a data area illustrated in FIG. 7A;

FIG. 8B illustrates status information of the DFL entry after allocatingthe new spare area to the data area illustrated in FIG. 7B;

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a method of processing a DFL entry of blockswithin a spare area that is newly allocated in a disc afterre-initializing the disc according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10A illustrates status information of the DFL entry beforeallocating the new spare areas to a data area illustrated in FIG. 9A;

FIG. 10B illustrates status information of the DFL entry afterallocating the new spare areas to the data area illustrated in FIG. 9B;

FIGS. 11A through 11C illustrate three DFL entries when the statusinformation 1 is set to “3,” which indicates a block may have a defectaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrate some sequential defect blocks with a knownlength of the defect existing in a newly allocated spare area, whereasthe rest of the sequential defect blocks are in a user data areaaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate a change in the DLF entries from thesituations illustrated in FIGS. 12A and 12B;

FIGS. 14A through 14C illustrate a case in which a starting address of asequential defect block in which an unknown length of the defect iseither in the spare area or the user data area by newly allocating aspare area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 15A through 15C illustrate a change in DFL entries in thesituations illustrated in FIGS. 14A through 14C; and

FIGS. 16A and 16B are flow charts illustrating a method ofre-initializing a disc according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elementsthroughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain thepresent invention by referring to the figures.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording/reproducing apparatus accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the recording/reproducing apparatus includes areading/writing unit 2 and a controlling unit 1.

The reading/writing unit 2 includes a pickup, and writes data on aninformation recording medium, which in this embodiment is a disc 4, orreads recorded data from the disc 4.

The controlling unit 1 controls the reading/writing unit 2 to write dataon or read data from the disc 4 according to a predetermined filesystem. In particular, the controlling unit 1 newly allocates a sparearea to re-initialize the disc 4, and manages status information ofdefect blocks in a user data area and replacement blocks in the sparearea according to the allocating result.

The controlling unit 1 includes a system controller 10, a host interface(I/F) 20, a digital signal processor (DSP) 30, a radio frequencyamplifier (RF AMP) 40, and a servo 50.

When recording data on the disc 4, the host I/F 20 receives apredetermined write command output from a host 3, and transmits thewrite command to the system controller 10. The system controller 10controls the DSP 30 and the servo 50 to perform the write commandreceived from the host I/F 20. The DSP 30 adds additional data such asparity encoding to data received from the host I/F 20, which is to berecorded on the disc 4, to error-correct the data; performs errorcorrecting code (ECC) encoding to any occurring ECC block, which is anerror correcting block; and then modulates the ECC block in apredetermined method. The RF AMP 40 converts the data output from theDSP 30 to an RF signal. The reading/writing unit 2, which includes thepickup, records the RF signal transmitted from the RF AMP 40 on the disc4. The servo 50 receives a command needed for servo control from thesystem controller 10, and servo controls the pickup of thereading/writing unit 2.

In particular, the system controller 10 manages the defect status ofblocks when a spare area is newly allocated for re-initializing the disc4.

The system controller 10 changes a defect list (DFL) entry of a defectblock into a DFL entry having status information that indicates thedefect block is re-initialized and has a possibility of a defect, andcontrols the reading/writing unit 2 to write the DFL entry on the disc 4when it is determined that a physical address of the defect block in auser data area, established before the disc re-initialization, is stillincluded in the user data area after a new spare area is allocated bythe disc re-initialization.

In addition, the system controller 10 changes a DFL entry of areplacement block to a DFL entry having status information thatindicates the replacement block is re-initialized and is unusable forreplacement when it is determined that a physical address of a defectblock in a user data area before disc re-initialization is included in aphysical address of the replacement block of a new spare area after thenew spare area is allocated by disc re-initialization.

Furthermore, the system controller 10 changes a DFL entry of a defectblock into a DFL entry having status information that indicates thedefect block is re-initialized and has a possible defect not yetverified when it is determined that a physical address of a replacementblock that is unusable for replacement in a spare area before discre-initialization is included in a physical address of a user data areaafter a new spare area is allocated by disc re-initialization. The DFLentry and the status information will be described in more detail later.

When reproducing data from the disc 4, the host I/F 20 receives a readcommand from the host 3. The system controller 10 performsinitialization needed for reproduction. The reading/writing unit 2 emitsa laser beam onto the disc 4, and outputs an information signal obtainedby receiving the laser beam reflected from the disc 4. The RF AMP 40converts the information signal output from the reading/writing unit 2into an RF signal, and provides modulated data obtained from the RFsignal to the DSP 30, and a servo signal to the servo 50 obtained fromthe RF signal to control the servo 50.

The DSP 30 demodulates the modulated data, and outputs data obtained byadministering an ECC error correction to the demodulated data.Meanwhile, the servo 50 receives the servo signal output from the RF AMP40, and the command for the servo control output from the systemcontroller 10, and performs the servo control on the pickup. The hostI/F 20 transmits the data received from the DSP 30 to the host 3.

A structure of the information recording medium according to anembodiment of the present invention will now be described.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of a single recording layer discaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a disc includes a lead-in area at an innercircumference of the disc, a lead-out area at an outer circumference ofthe disc, and a data area therebetween in a radial direction of thedisc.

The lead-in area includes a defect management area (DMA) #2, a writingcondition test area, and a DMA #1. The data area includes a spare area#1, a user data area, and a spare area #2. The lead-out area includes aDMA #3 and a DMA #4.

The DMA is an area in which to record defect management information of are-writable information storage medium. The DMA is disposed at an innerarea and/or an outer area of the disc.

When a defect occurs at a predetermined area of the user data area ofthe disc, a determination of whether to allocate spare areas to writetherein, and a replacement block to replace a defect block in which thedefect has occurred, and the sizes of the spare areas and/or replacementblock, is made by a user or a drive manufacturer at an initializingstage of the data area. The spare areas may be newly allocated when thedisc needs to be re-initialized while using the disc.

Defect management information that is recorded in the DMA is composed ofa DFL for defect information, and a disc definition structure (DDS)which includes information regarding a structure of the data area.

The DFL is composed of a DFL header and a DFL entry. The format of theDFL will be described in more detail subsequently with reference to FIG.4.

The writing condition test area is used to test various recording powersin order to obtain the best power for recording data and variables.

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of a double recording layer diskaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a recording layer L0 includes a lead-in area #0, adata area, and a lead-out area #0, and another recording layer L1includes a lead-in area #1, a data area, and a lead-out area #1.

The lead-in area #0 of the L0 layer includes a DMA #2, a writingcondition test area, and a DMA #1. The data area of the L0 layerincludes a spare area #1, a user data area, and a spare area #2. Thelead-out area #0 of the L0 layer includes a DMA #3 and a DMA #4.

The lead-in area #1 of the L1 layer includes a DMA #2, a writingcondition test area, and a DMA #1. The data area of the L1 layerincludes a spare area #4, a user data area, and a spare area #3. Thelead-out area #1 of the L1 layer includes a DMA #3 and a DMA #4.

FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of a data format of a DFL 400 accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the DFL 400 includes a DFL header 410 and a DFLentry list 420.

Number information for a defect management of blocks is written in theDFL header 410. The DFL header 410 includes a DFL identifier 411, anumber 412 of defect blocks with a replacement block, a number 413 ofdefect blocks without a replacement block, a number 414 of usable spareblocks, a number 415 of non-usable spare blocks, and a number 416 ofblocks with a possible defect.

The number 412 of the defect blocks with the replacement block denotesthe number of DFL entries having defect status information indicatingthat defect blocks have been replaced with replacement blocks within aspare area.

The number 413 of the defect blocks without the replacement blockdenotes a number of DFL entries having defect status informationindicating defect blocks without replacement blocks in the spare area.

The number 414 of the usable spare blocks denotes the number of DFLentries having defect status information indicating blocks that areusable for replacement among unreplaced blocks in the spare area.

The number 415 of the unusable spare blocks denotes the number of DFLentries having defect status information indicating blocks that areunusable for replacement among unreplaced blocks in the spare area.

The number 416 of the possible defective blocks denotes the number ofDFL entries having defect status information indicating possibledefective blocks that are not yet verified as defective among the blocksin the user data area.

The DFL entry list 420 is a collection of DFL entries having defectstatus information regarding various blocks. The DFL entry list 420includes a DFL entry #1 421, a DFL entry #2 422, . . . , through a DFLentry #N 423.

FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of a data format of a DFL entry #i 500such as illustrated in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 5, the DFL entry #i 500 includes status information 1510, a physical address of a defect block 520, status information 2 530,and a physical address of a replacement block 540.

The status information 1 510 is information regarding a defect status ofthe defect blocks in the user data area, and information regarding thestatus of whether the replacement blocks in the spare area are usable.The status information 1 510 will be described in more detail later withreference to FIG. 6.

The status information 2 530 is information regarding the status ofwhether the replacement blocks in the spare area are usable. As such, byonly indicating that the disc is re-initialized in the statusinformation 2 530 of the DFL entry #i 500, without going through theverification operation after re-initializing the disc, re-initializationof the disc can be performed quickly. In addition, if the statusinformation 2 530 of the DFL entry #i 500 of the block on which the datais to be recorded is set as the status information indicating the dischas been re-initialized when recording data after the re-initializationof the disc, a drive system knows that the disc has been re-initialized,and so can pad a predetermined amount of data in the rest of the blockand record the data without going through an additionalread-modify-write process, even if the host 3 commands to record data ina predetermined area of the block. Furthermore, the drive system knowsthat the data recorded in the block is invalid data if the statusinformation 2 530 is set to indicate the disc has been re-initializedwhen a reproduction command output form the host 3 is received, and thusnull data or a check message is immediately transmitted to the host 3.

The physical address 520 of the defect block is a physical address atwhich the defect block is located in the user data area, and thephysical address 540 of the replacement block is a physical address atwhich the replacement block is located in the spare area.

FIG. 6 illustrates the status information 1 510 of the DFL entry #i 500illustrated in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 6, the status information 1 510 includes five states,“1,” “2,” “3,” “4,” and “5.”

Status information “1” indicates the status of a defect block with areplacement block. In this case, a physical address of the defect blockindicates a physical address of a defect block in the user data area,and a physical address of the replacement block is a physical address atwhich a replacement block that replaces the defect block is written inthe spare area.

Status information “2” indicates the status of a defect block without areplacement block. In this case, a physical address of the defect blockindicates a physical address of a replacement block in the user dataarea.

Status information “3” indicates the status of a possible defectiveblock. The possible defective block is a block that is not yet verifiedby error correction after recording data when excess RF signals or servosignals are detected during disc verification or scanning, but has apossibility of a defect and so needs to be verified through errorcorrection after recording data in the future. In this case, a physicaladdress of the defect block indicates a physical address of a possibledefective block but has not yet been verified.

Status information “4” indicates the status of a usable replacementblock in the spare area. In this case, a physical address of thereplacement block indicates a physical address of the usable block amongunused replacement blocks in the spare area.

Status information “5” indicates the status of an unusable replacementblock in the spare area. In this case, a physical address of thereplacement block indicates a physical address of an unusable blockamong unused replacement blocks in the spare area.

The status information “1,” “2,” and “3” indicate the status of blocksin the user data area, and the status information “4” and “5” indicatethe status of blocks in the spare area.

The status information 2 530 is not illustrated in FIG. 6, but, forexample, the disc is re-initialized if the status information 2 530 isset to “1,” and the disc is not re-initialized, or is used afterre-initialization, if the status information 2 530 is set to “0.” If thestatus information 2 530 is set to “0,” valid data is recorded in theblock. If the status information 2 530 is set to “1,” valid data is notrecorded in the block since the block has been re-initialized.

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate a method of processing a DFL entry of blocksin a spare area that is newly allocated in a disc after re-initializingthe disc according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7A illustrates a data block in a single recording layer disc whichallocates and uses a spare area #1 before disc re-initialization, andFIG. 7B illustrates the data block with a new spare area #1 allocatedtherein after disc re-initialization.

Referring to FIG. 7A, the data area has only the spare area #1 allocatedtherein, and includes the spare area #1 and a user data area. Blocks{circle around (1)}, {circle around (2)} and {circle around (3)} arerecorded at the end of the user data area. The block {circle around (1)}is a defect block and has a replacement block to replace the defectblock. The block {circle around (2)} is a defect block that does nothave a replacement block to replace the defect block. The block {circlearound (3)} is a possible defective block.

FIG. 7B illustrates the data area when the defect blocks still exist inthe user data area after disc re-initialization, when the new spare area#1 is allocated in the data area by disc re-initialization while usingthe disc in the present state.

Referring to FIG. 7B, DFL entries of the block {circle around (1)} withthe replacement block, the block {circle around (2)} without thereplacement block, and the block {circle around (3)} with a possibledefect are converted into DFL entries having status information with apossible defect together with status information that the blocks {circlearound (1)}, {circle around (2)}, and {circle around (3)} arere-initialized.

FIG. 8A illustrates the status information of the DFL entry beforeallocating the new spare area #1, according to this embodiment of thepresent invention, to the data area illustrated in FIG. 7A. FIG. 8B is aview of the status information of the DFL entry after allocating the newspare area #1, according to this embodiment of the present invention, tothe data area illustrated in FIG. 7B.

Referring to FIG. 8A, the DFL entry for the block {circle around (1)} isthe first entry listed in FIG. 8A. Since the block {circle around (2)}is the defect block with the replacement block, status information 1 isset to “1,” a physical address of the defect block is registered as“0010000h,” and status information 2 is set to “0” since the defectblock is not yet re-initialized. Since the block {circle around (2)} isthe defect block without the replacement block, status information 1 isset to “2,” a physical address of the defect block is registered as“0010100h,” and status information 2 is set to “0” since the defectblock is not yet re-initialized. Since the block {circle around (3)} isthe possible defective block, status information 1 is set to “3,” aphysical address of the block is registered as “0010110h,” and statusinformation 2 is set to “0” since the block is not yet re-initialized.

The DFL entry list illustrated in FIG. 8A changes into a DFL entry listas illustrated in FIG. 8B by re-initialization, which newly allocatesthe spare area #1.

Referring to FIG. 8B, the DFL entry for the block {circle around (1)} isthe first entry listed in FIG. 8B, the DFL entry for the block {circlearound (2)} is the second entry in FIG. 8B, and the DFL entry for theblock {circle around (3)} is the third entry in FIG. 8B. Statusinformation 1 of the DFL entries for the blocks {circle around (1)},{circle around (2)}, and {circle around (3)} are all set to “3,” whichindicates that they are possible defective blocks due to discre-initialization, and status information 2 of the DFL entries for theblocks {circle around (1)}, {circle around (2)}, and {circle around (3)}are all set to “1,” which indicates that they have been re-initialized.

As such, the defect blocks in the user data area after discre-initialization are possible defective blocks. Therefore, when wantingto record data on the blocks, the blocks preferably, though notnecessarily, should be checked for a defect by the disc verificationprocess after recording data on the disc.

The status information 2 needs to be changed to “0” if the block is usedagain after setting the status information 2 of the DFL entry as “1,”which indicates the disc has been re-initialized, by re-initializing thedisc. The status information 2 is set to “1” to indicate the datarecorded in the block has become invalid due to re-initializing thedisc.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a method of processing a DFL entry of blockswithin a spare area that is newly allocated in the disc afterre-initializing the disc according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9A illustrates a data block in a single recording layer disc whichallocates and uses a spare area #1 before disc re-initialization, andFIG. 9B illustrates the data block with a new spare area #2 allocatedtherein after disc re-initialization.

Referring to FIG. 9A, a data area has only the spare area #1 allocatedtherein, and the data area includes the spare area #1 and a user dataarea. Blocks {circle around (4)}, {circle around (5)}, and {circlearound (6)} are recorded at the end of the user data area, and block{circle around (7)} is recorded in the spare area #1. The block {circlearound (4)} is a defect block and has a replacement block to replace thedefect block. The block {circle around (5)} is a defect block that doesnot have a replacement block to replace the defect block. The block{circle around (6)} is a possible defective block. The block {circlearound (7)} is a replacement block located in the spare area # 1 whichcannot be used to replace another block.

FIG. 9B illustrates a state of the data area in which the spare area #1is reduced when newly allocated by the re-initialization of the discwhile using the disc, and the block {circle around (7)} that was locatedin the spare area #1 before re-initialization is located in the userdata area after re-initialization. Also, a spare area #2 is newlyallocated in the data area, and the blocks {circle around (4)}, {circlearound (5)}, and {circle around (6)} that were located in the user dataarea before re-initialization are located in the spare area #2.

Referring to FIG. 9B, if the blocks {circle around (4)}, {circle around(5)}, and {circle around (6)} which were in the user data area beforere-initialization, are included in the spare area #2 afterre-initialization, DFL entries of the blocks {circle around (4)},{circle around (5)}, and {circle around (6)} are changed into DFLentries having status information indicating all the blocks {circlearound (4)}, {circle around (5)}, and {circle around (6)} have beenre-initialized, together with status information indicating they areunusable for replacement. In addition, if the block {circle around (7)},which was located in the spare area # 1 before re-initialization, islocated in the user data area after re-initialization, a DFL entry ofthe block {circle around (7)} is changed into a DFL entry having statusinformation indicating the block {circle around (7)} has beenre-initialized, together with status information indicating it has apossible defect.

FIG. 10A illustrates the status information of the DFL entry beforeallocating the new spare areas #1 and #2 to the data area illustrated inFIG. 9A, and FIG. 10B illustrates the status information of the DFLentry after allocating the new spare areas #1 and #2 to the data areaillustrated in FIG. 9B.

Referring to FIG. 10A, the DFL entry for the block {circle around (4)}is the first entry listed in FIG. 9A. Since the block {circle around(4)} is the defect block with the replacement block, status information1 is set to “1,” a physical address of the defect block is registered as“0010000h,” and status information 2 is set to “0,” since the defectblock is not yet re-initialized. Since the block {circle around (5)} isthe defect block without the replacement block, status information 1 isset to “2,” a physical address of the defect block is registered as“0010100h,” and status information 2 is set to “0,” since the defectblock is not yet re-initialized. Since the block {circle around (6)} isthe possible defective block, status information 1 is set to “3,” aphysical address of the block is registered as “0010110h,” and statusinformation 2 is set to “0” since the block is not yet re-initialized.

The DFL entry list illustrated in FIG. 10A changes into a DFL entry listas illustrated in FIG. 10B by re-initialization, which newly allocatesthe spare areas #1 and #2.

Referring to FIG. 10B, the DFL entry for the block {circle around (4)}is the second entry listed in FIG. 10B, the DFL entry for the block{circle around (5)} is the third entry in FIG. 10B, the DFL entry forthe block {circle around (6)} is the fourth entry in FIG. 10B, and theDFL entry for the block {circle around (7)} is the first entry in FIG.10B. Status information 1 of the DFL entries for the blocks {circlearound (4)}, {circle around (5)}, and {circle around (6)} are all set to“5,” which indicates that they are blocks that cannot be used forreplacement, by disc re-initialization. Status information 2, whichindicates the state of re-initialization, of the blocks {circle around(4)}, {circle around (5)}, and {circle around (6)} are all set to “1,”indicating that they have been re-initialized, and a physical address ofthe defect block moves to the location of a physical address of thereplacement block. Status information 1 of the DFL entry for the block{circle around (7)} is set to “3,” which indicates it has a possibilityof a defect, status information 2 is set to “1,” and a physical addressof the replacement block moves to the location of a physical address ofthe defect block.

Up to now, the description was related to a single recording layer disc,but the same method applies to a double recording layer disc.

A processing method of a sequential defect block in which defect occursin a series will be described now with reference to FIGS. 11A through15C.

FIGS. 11A through 11C illustrate three DFL entries when the statusinformation 1 is set to “3,” which indicates a block may have a defect.

FIG. 11A is a view of a DFL entry of a single possible defective block.

Referring to FIG. 11A, status information 1 of the DFL entry is set to“3,” which indicates the block may have a defect, a physical address ofa defect block indicates a physical address of the possible defectiveblock, status information 2 is set to “0,” which indicatesre-initialization is not yet performed, and a physical address of areplacement block is registered as “1,” which indicates the block is asingle block.

FIG. 11B is a view of a DFL entry of sequential defect blocks with aknown length of a possible defect.

Referring to FIG. 11B, status information 1 of the DFL entry is set to“3,” which indicates the sequential defect blocks may have a defect, aphysical address of a defect block indicates a starting physical addressof the sequential defect blocks, status information 2 is set to “0,”which indicates re-initialization is not yet performed, and a physicaladdress of a replacement block is registered as “5,” which indicates thelength of the sequential defect blocks.

FIG. 11C is a view of a DFL entry of sequential defect blocks with anunknown length of a possible defect.

Referring to FIG. 11C, status information 1 of the DFL entry is set to“3,” which indicates the sequential defect blocks may have a defect, aphysical address of a defect block indicates a starting physical addressof the sequential defect blocks, status information 2 is set to “0,”which indicates re-initialization is not yet performed, and a physicaladdress of a replacement block is registered as a predetermined value“FFh,” since the length of the sequential defects block is unknown.

FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrate a part of sequential defect blocks with aknown length of the defect existing in a newly allocated spare area,whereas the remainder of the sequential defect blocks exists in a userdata area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 12A, defect blocks #1 through #5 with a possibledefect are sequentially disposed in the user data area. The defectblocks #1 through #5 with a possible defect form the sequential defectblocks. The starting address of the sequential defect blocks is shown as“0001000h.”

In the present state, when the spare area is newly allocated due tore-initialization, a portion of the sequential defect blocks is includedin the newly allocated spare area, while the rest is included in theuser data area, as illustrated in FIG. 12B.

Referring to FIG. 12B, by newly allocating the spare area, two blocks(blocks #1 and #2) are included in the spare area, while three blocks(blocks #3 through #5) are included in the user data area. As will bedescribed later, the blocks #3 through #5 (i.e., the sequential defectblocks) included in the user data area may still have a defect, and theblocks #1 and #2 included in the spare area become replacement blocksthat cannot be used.

FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate a change in the DLF entries from thesituation illustrated in FIGS. 12A and 12B.

FIG. 13A illustrates a DFL entry of the sequential defect blocks asillustrated in FIG. 12A, that is, the DFL entry of the sequential defectblocks before re-initialization.

Referring to FIG. 13A, status information 1 of the DFL entry is set to“3,” which indicates the sequential defect block may have a defect, aphysical address of the defect block has registered therein “0001000h,”which is a starting physical address of the sequential defect blocks,status information 2 is set to “0,” which indicates thatre-initialization is not yet performed, and a physical address of areplacement block is registered as “5,” which indicates the length ofthe sequential defect blocks.

FIG. 13B illustrates a DFL entry of the sequential defect blocks asillustrated in FIG. 12B, that is, the DFL entry of the sequential defectblock after re-initialization.

Referring to FIG. 13B, the defect blocks #3 through #5 with a possibledefect included in the user data area even after re-initialization arethe first DFL entry. That is, the first DFL entry has status information1 set to “3,” which indicates the defect blocks #3 through #5 may have adefect, a physical address of the defect block registered as “0001010h,”which is a starting physical address of the sequential defect blocks,status information 2 set to “1,” which indicates re-initialization hasbeen performed, and a physical address of a replacement block registeredas “3,” which indicates the length of the sequential defect block.

The blocks #1 and #2, which are included in the spare area afterre-initialization, are the second and third DFL entries illustrated inFIG. 13B. The second DFL entry has status information 1 set to “5,”which indicates an unusable block, status information 2 set to “1,”which indicates re-initialization has been performed, and a physicaladdress of a replacement block registered as “0001000h.” The third DFLentry has status information 1 set as “5,” which indicates an unusableblock, status information 2 set to “1,” which indicatesre-initialization has been performed, and a physical address of areplacement block registered as “0001001h.” The sequential defect blocksin the user data area can be shown as a single DFL entry, but a DFLentry for each replacement block exists even if the replacement blocksin the spare area are in a sequence.

FIGS. 14A through 14C illustrate the case in which a starting address ofsequential defect blocks with an unknown length of the defect is eitherin the spare area or the user data area by newly allocating a spare areaaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

There are two methods to process sequential defect blocks with anunknown length of defect through re-initialization.

One method is to verify predetermined blocks from the starting block ofthe sequential defect blocks by “verification after recording,” andgenerating a DFL entry for each of the verified blocks depending onwhere the blocks exist (i.e., in the user data area or the spare area)after newly allocating the spare area. That is, first, “verificationafter recording” is performed, and if it is determined that a block inthe user data area has a defect even after the spare area is newlyallocated, a DFL entry according to the determination is registered. Butif it is determined that the block does not have a defect, a DFL entryof the block does not need to be registered. Also, if the block in thenewly allocated spare area is determined to have a defect, a DFL entryhaving status information indicating the block is an unusablereplacement block is registered, and if the block is determined not tohave a defect, a DEL entry having status information indicating thesequential block is a usable replacement block is registered.

Another method is to generate a DEL entry depending on where a startingaddress of the sequential defect blocks is after newly allocating aspare area. That is, when the starting address of the sequential defectblocks is included in the spare area after allocating the new sparearea, predetermined blocks from a starting block at the starting addressare recorded and then verified, and, according to the verificationresults, a DFL entry is registered. When the starting address of thesequential defect blocks is included in the user data area afterallocating the new spare area, the original DFL entry is maintained.Here, status information indicating re-initialization has been performedis not indicated in status information 2, since the purpose of statusinformation indicating re-initialization has been performed is toeliminate the unnecessary read-modify-write process when recording dataon the above-mentioned blocks by the host in the future. However, if thelength of the sequential blocks is unknown, the range from whichphysical address to which physical address of the sequential blocks witha possible defect has been re-initialized is also unclear, even if thestatus information indicating re-initialization has been performed isindicated. Therefore, the status information indicating thatre-initialization has been performed is not included in the statusinformation 2. This will be described in more detail with reference toFIGS. 14A through 15C.

Referring to FIG. 14A, sequential defect blocks with an unknown lengthare disposed in the user data area. Even though the length of thesequential defect blocks is unknown, the starting address is indicatedas “0000100h.”

Referring to FIG. 14B, a new spare area is allocated to the situationillustrated in FIG. 14A. After allocating the new spare area, the sizeof the spare area is reduced, but the starting address of the sequentialdefect block with the unknown length, which was in the user data areabefore newly allocating the spare area still remains in the user dataarea. In the current situation, since the starting address of thesequential defect blocks with the unknown length remains in the userdata area, it is assumed that the sequential defect blocks are also inthe user data area, and the DFL entry is processed accordingly.

FIG. 14C also illustrates a new spare area allocated to the situationillustrated in FIG. 14A. After allocating the new spare area, the sizeof the spare area is enlarged, and the starting address of thesequential defect blocks with the unknown length that was in the userdata area before newly allocating the spare area is included in thespare area. In the current situation, since the starting address of thesequential defect blocks with the unknown length is in the spare area,it is assumed that the sequential defect blocks are in the spare area,and the DFL entry is processed according to the results of performing“verification after recording” to predetermined blocks from the startingaddress of the sequential defect blocks.

FIGS. 15A through 15C illustrate a change in DFL entries in thesituations illustrated in FIGS. 14A through 14C.

FIG. 15A illustrates the DFL entry of the sequential defect blocksbefore re-initialization, which is illustrated in FIG. 14A.

Referring to FIG. 15A, status information 1 of the DFL entry is set to“3,” which indicates a possible defective block, a physical address of adefect block indicates a physical address of the possible defectiveblock, status information 2 is set to “0,” which indicatesre-initialization has not been performed, and a physical address of areplacement block has registered therein a predetermined value “FFh” toindicate the length of the sequential defect blocks is unknown.

FIG. 15B illustrates the DFL entry of the sequential defect blocks whenthe starting address of the sequential defect blocks with the unknownlength is included in the user data area after re-initialization, whichis illustrated in FIG. 14B.

Referring to FIG. 15B, the DFL entry remains the same as the DFL entryof FIG. 15A, and status information 2 also remains set to “0,” asdescribed above.

FIG. 15C is a view of the DFL entry of the sequential defect blocks whenthe starting address of the sequential defect blocks with the unknownlength is included in the spare area after re-initialization, which isillustrated in FIG. 14C.

Referring to FIG. 15C, when the starting address of the sequentialdefect blocks with the unknown length exists in the spare area, a DFLentry is registered according to the result of verifying predeterminedblocks after recording the predetermined blocks from the startingaddress of the sequential defect blocks. For example, when there are twodefect blocks in the sequential defect blocks after verifying thesequential defect blocks, and it is determined by verification that thefirst block is a usable block, while the second block is an unusableblock, two DFL entries as illustrated in FIG. 15C are registered.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are flow charts illustrating a method ofre-initializing a disc according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 16A, the disc 4 is loaded in the drive system and thenthe system controller 10 of the drive system receives a discre-initialization command (1601).

When the disc re-initialization command is received, the systemcontroller 10 allocates a new spare area in the user data area (1602).

Next, the system controller 10 changes a DFL entry according to theallocation of the spare area by determining whether a portion that is tobe changed is a single defect block or sequential defect blocks (1603).If it is determined that the portion to be changed is a single defectblock, the process moves on to operation 1604. But if it is determinedto be sequential defect blocks, the process moves along to {circlearound (a)}, which is illustrated in FIG. 16B.

In operation 1604, the system controller 10 determines whether thedefect block included in the user data area is still included in theuser data area even after allocating the new spare area.

If the determination result shows that the defect block remains in theuser data area, a DFL entry of the defect block is changed into a DFLentry indicating it is a not yet verified possible defective block,together with status information indicating the defect block has beenre-initialized (1605).

If the determination result shows that the defect block does not remainin the data user area, it is then determined whether the defect blockthat was included in the user data area is included in the spare areaafter re-initialization (1606).

If the determination result shows that the defect block that wasincluded in the user data area is included in the spare area afterre-initialization, a DFL entry of the defect block is changed into a DFLentry indicating that the block is unusable for replacement, togetherwith status information indicating re-initialization has been performed(1607).

Next, when a replacement block that is unusable for replacement in thespare area is included in the user data area after allocating the newspare area (1608), the system controller 10 changes a DFL entry of thereplacement block into a DFL entry indicating it is a not yet verifiedpossible defective block along with status information indicatingre-initialization has been performed (1609).

In the case in which operation 1603 determines that the portion to bechanged is sequential defect blocks, the process moves on to operation1610 (as shown by {circle around (a)}) as shown in FIG. 16B. In the caseof the sequential defect blocks, it is determined whether the length ofthe sequential possible defective block can be known (1610).

In the case of sequential possible defective blocks with a known length,status information 2 of the sequential blocks in the user data area isset to “1” after allocating the new spare area, which indicates thesequential blocks have been re-initialized, and changes a DFL entry ofthe sequential blocks into a sequential DFL entry (1611). A DFL entry ofthe sequential blocks included in the newly allocated spare area ischanged into a DFL entry indicating unusable replacement blocks (1612).When a portion of the sequential possible defective blocks is includedin the user data area, while the remainder of the sequential blocks isincluded in the newly allocated spare area by allocating the new sparearea, some blocks included in the user data area are processed inoperation 1611, while the other blocks included in the spare area areprocessed in operation 1612.

When the length of the sequential possible defective blocks is unknown,one of methods 1 and 2 can be used according to the intention of, forexample, a drive manufacturer (1613).

In the case of the method 1, predetermined blocks beginning from astarting block included in the sequential blocks are verified through“verification after recording,” and then, according to the verificationresults, a DFL entry of the sequential blocks is changed (1614). Thatis, according to the verification results, the sequential blocksincluded in the user data area after allocating the new spare area isregistered as a DFL entry including status information 1 indicating itis defective or has a possible defect, and status information 2indicating they have been re-initialized. Also, according to theverification results, the sequential blocks included in the newlyallocated spare area are identified by a DFL entry including statusinformation 1 indicating usable or unusable replacement blocks, andstatus information 2 indicating they have been re-initialized.

In the case of the method 2, if the starting block of the sequentialblocks is included in the user data area after allocating the sparearea, a DFL entry regarding the starting block is changed into asequential block DFL entry, assuming that the rest of the blocks arealso included in the user data area. If the starting block of thesequential blocks is included in the newly allocated spare area, it isassumed that the rest of the blocks are included in the spare area, anda DFL entry regarding the sequential blocks is changed into a DFL entryindicating usable or unusable replacement blocks according toverification results performed after recording.

According to the above-described present invention, by re-initializing adisc through managing defect information without recording data and thenverifying the data, the re-initialization process is quickly performed.That is, by indicating re-initialization has been performed in statusinformation 2 of a defect list entry when re-initializing the disc,re-initialization can be rapidly performed. Also, if the statusinformation 2 of a defect list entry of a block in which data is to berecorded is set to “1” when recording data after re-initialization, adrive system knows that re-initialization has been performed, and, evenif a host issues a command to record data on a portion of the block,predetermined data is immediately padded in the rest of the blockwithout going through a separate read-modify-write process, and the datais recorded. In addition, the drive system immediately transmits nulldata to the host, since the data recorded on the block is invalid, or acheck message can be transmitted when a reproducing command is received.Therefore, the present invention can reduce the time consumed inre-initializing the disc, and prevent an unnecessary read-modify-writeprocess in a re-writable medium.

The recording/reproducing method can also be embodied as computerreadable codes on a computer readable recording medium. The computerreadable recording medium is any data storage device that can store datawhich can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of thecomputer readable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks,information data storage devices, and carrier waves (such as datatransmission through the Internet). The computer readable recordingmedium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems sothat the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributedfashion. Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments foraccomplishing the recording/reproducing method can be easily construedby programmers skilled in the art to which the present inventionpertains.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made in this embodiment without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe claims and their equivalents.

1. A method for recording data on an information recording medium thatcomprises a data area including a user data area to store user data anda spare area to store a replacement block that replaces a defectiveblock occurring in the user data area, and a defect management area tostore a defect list in which a defect entry is recorded, the defectentry comprising location information regarding the defective block andthe replacement block and first status information regarding thedefective block and the replacement block, the method comprising:recording a new defect entry with second status information into whichthe defect entry with the first status information is converted duringre-initialization, if the defective block remains in the user data areaafter a range of the spare area is changed by re-initialization; whereinthe first status information indicates that the replacement blockcorresponding to the defective block has been allocated, and the secondstatus information indicates that a defective block corresponding to thenew defect entry may have a defect.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein aphysical address of the defective block is not changed.
 3. A method forreproducing data from an information recording medium that comprises adata area including a user data area to store user data and a spare areato store a replacement block that replaces a defective block occurringin the user data area, and a defect management area to store a defectlist in which a defect entry is recorded, the defect entry comprisinglocation information regarding the defective block and the replacementblock and first status information regarding the defective block and thereplacement block, the method comprising: reproducing a new defect entrywith second status information from the information recording medium,wherein the new defect entry with the second status information is anentry which is converted from the defect entry with the first statusinformation during re-initialization, if the defective block remains inthe user data area after a range of the spare area is changed byre-initialization; wherein the first status information indicates thatthe replacement block corresponding to the defective block has beenallocated, and the second status information indicates that a defectiveblock corresponding to the new defect entry may have a defect.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein a physical address of the defective block isnot changed.